previous installment is here
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The Fifth Postulate
Euc and Proc are on a cruise to Luxor. It would have been a well deserved vacation if not for the fact that Proc decided that this would be a good time to start writing.
"This is not what you do on a cruise," moans Euc.
"And what do you do on a cruise?" asks Proc faking naivete.
"Arrgh" says Euc grinding his teeth.
"Oooo," says Proc tenderly, "I will put out after you write the first part."
Euc jumps up. "Lets get going," he says and heads for the main cabin which has a big table and chairs. He pulls the papyrus parchments, ink and a thin stick.
"What is the title? All I have is just bits and pieces," he says.
"Call it The Elements," Proc declares indicating that she has decided it long ago. "It is a good word and I hope that that rest of these motherfucking scientists will respect our priority," she grumbles.
It is a big, historical moment but somehow it feels business as usual.
"We begin with basic definitions and five postulates, are you ready?" starts Proc.
"Why five? Wouldn't four be enough?" Euc is just being lazy, but Proc uses this opportunity to give him a glimpse of what it is all about.
"Four would not be enough but this is not easy to see. It took me many weeks, and completely new methods," she says with a hint of pride, "we are definitely not claiming it in the book."
"Why not? Aren't we not suppose to write all that you found out?" Euc is puzzled.
Proc laughs so hard that Euc gets momentarily distracted by her breasts bouncing up and down.
"The Elements is not about what I know. It is about what you can find out yourself; this is a manual for a new way of thinking. I set it up in an easy environment so anybody can do a little bit of it," she says with a smile.
"And people discover a great deal more once they get the hang of it," Euc finally starts grasping the idea.
"Precisely," says Proc happily. "Let me give you an example," she explains, "we start with some easy geometric statements and finish with a fact about triangles that Pyth dug out in some old manuscript."
She looks around the boxy cabin they are in. "Do you know that if you square width, height and length of this room, and add it all up, you will get a square of the diagonal from the low corner on the floor to the furthest one on the ceiling?"
"When did you have time to measure it?" Euc is quite surprised at the rapid change of subject.
"I did not measure it," Proc laughs again, "if you read The Elements you will figure it out yourself."
Last Day Math
The writing is going well and Euc and Proc decide to take a short break.
They sit at home in Giza looking at the pyramids and drinking beer.
"I still do not get why we do not put more into the Elements" starts Euc.
"More of what?" asks Proc with a hint of annoyance.
"More of the stuff that you discovered, not just geometry," answers Euc who hopes for something coming out of this effort in his lifetime.
"This is powerful stuff," repeats Proc, "too much is not good and geometry is a reasonable choice for a starting point."
"What do you mean by a reasonable choice? It there another one?" Euc is surprised.
"Sure," says Proc, "it could be about numbers, equations and many other things."
"Why isn't it then?" moans exasperated Euc.
Proc guzzles an entire mug of beer, burps loudly and decides to explain.
"The Method that we are describing in The Elements is very potent. The thing is that once you find something you can stand on it and reach further and nothing ever goes bad. In the end everything is connected to everything else."
"Yeah, you told me" that says Euc irritated.
"But what I did not tell you is that this is tied to a very special type of growth," says Proc gently.
"Huh?" is all that comes out of Euc.
"Imagine that you are a croc in a pond and you eat fish," Proc makes one of her stunning changes of topic. "Each day you eat twice as many fish as you ate so far and after seven days you eat them all."
"Say again?" says Euc not understanding any of it.
"When will you eat half of them?" asks Proc ignoring his protests.
Euc sips beer and shows clearly that he hates to be examined like this. "Just tell me," he says.
"Six days," Proc decides not torture him.
"Why six?" Euc is suddenly curious.
"Well," says Proc, "once you ate half, the next day you eat the rest. On the seventh day it is."
"Aha," says Euc as if he really got it, "unless they multiplied meanwhile."
"Good point," Proc praises him, "let's suppose they didn't."
"What kind of fish are they?" Euc is trying to escape, but to no avail.
"Well," Proc continues, "with math it is all the same, if there is an end to it, then half of it will be done on the last day."
"So, what is the point?" says Euc distractedly staring at Proc's breasts.
"You will get some if you focus," Proc gently pats his crotch, "what would you do if you wanted the fish to last an extra day?"
"So I am a croc now?" Euc asks and starts to loosen up his clothing.
"Yes you are," Proc gives him a flirtatious look, "but first answer me."
"I would eat only half of the fish each day, and keep the rest in a separate pond."
"Exactly, and if math had an expiration date it would be good to have the Last Day Math held in reserve, as a bargaining chip."
"Bargaining with whom?" Euc asks incredulously.
"How am I supposed to know?" answers Proc and removes her toga signaling that work is temporarily suspended.
"But you have to be quick," she says, "we have a lot of work to do."
"I am always quick," answers Euc running to the bedroom.
"Indeed you are," mutters Proc without particular enthusiasm.
Missing nuggets
It is early afternoon and Program Commanders hang out in their favorite place.
"Is it true that all nuggets are gone?" Ie starts the conversation.
Uce jumps in, "I deal with abstracts for the grant awards. It is a horror story - inconsistencies in capitalization, dangling modifiers, misplacement of relative clauses - you name it."
"But what about the content?" probes Ie.
"What content?" Uce gets agitated, "there is no content, it is all incomprehensible new-speak or generalities that fit everything."
"Could it be that Sas is right and the community is hiding good stuff from us?" Nna wonders aloud.
"Sas is an idiot," Mek does not mince words, "but he has a horse sense for being conned."
"So, do you think that math has stalled?" asks Dy.
Programs Commanders start pondering and finally Ris says what has been nagging them for a while, "physics has Higgs boson, astronomy has dark energy and matter, chemistry has nano-tubes and graphene. Maybe, just maybe, we are staying a tad behind."
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The Fifth Postulate
Euc and Proc are on a cruise to Luxor. It would have been a well deserved vacation if not for the fact that Proc decided that this would be a good time to start writing.
"This is not what you do on a cruise," moans Euc.
"And what do you do on a cruise?" asks Proc faking naivete.
"Arrgh" says Euc grinding his teeth.
"Oooo," says Proc tenderly, "I will put out after you write the first part."
Euc jumps up. "Lets get going," he says and heads for the main cabin which has a big table and chairs. He pulls the papyrus parchments, ink and a thin stick.
"What is the title? All I have is just bits and pieces," he says.
"Call it The Elements," Proc declares indicating that she has decided it long ago. "It is a good word and I hope that that rest of these motherfucking scientists will respect our priority," she grumbles.
It is a big, historical moment but somehow it feels business as usual.
"We begin with basic definitions and five postulates, are you ready?" starts Proc.
"Why five? Wouldn't four be enough?" Euc is just being lazy, but Proc uses this opportunity to give him a glimpse of what it is all about.
"Four would not be enough but this is not easy to see. It took me many weeks, and completely new methods," she says with a hint of pride, "we are definitely not claiming it in the book."
"Why not? Aren't we not suppose to write all that you found out?" Euc is puzzled.
Proc laughs so hard that Euc gets momentarily distracted by her breasts bouncing up and down.
"The Elements is not about what I know. It is about what you can find out yourself; this is a manual for a new way of thinking. I set it up in an easy environment so anybody can do a little bit of it," she says with a smile.
"And people discover a great deal more once they get the hang of it," Euc finally starts grasping the idea.
"Precisely," says Proc happily. "Let me give you an example," she explains, "we start with some easy geometric statements and finish with a fact about triangles that Pyth dug out in some old manuscript."
She looks around the boxy cabin they are in. "Do you know that if you square width, height and length of this room, and add it all up, you will get a square of the diagonal from the low corner on the floor to the furthest one on the ceiling?"
"When did you have time to measure it?" Euc is quite surprised at the rapid change of subject.
"I did not measure it," Proc laughs again, "if you read The Elements you will figure it out yourself."
Last Day Math
The writing is going well and Euc and Proc decide to take a short break.
They sit at home in Giza looking at the pyramids and drinking beer.
"I still do not get why we do not put more into the Elements" starts Euc.
"More of what?" asks Proc with a hint of annoyance.
"More of the stuff that you discovered, not just geometry," answers Euc who hopes for something coming out of this effort in his lifetime.
"This is powerful stuff," repeats Proc, "too much is not good and geometry is a reasonable choice for a starting point."
"What do you mean by a reasonable choice? It there another one?" Euc is surprised.
"Sure," says Proc, "it could be about numbers, equations and many other things."
"Why isn't it then?" moans exasperated Euc.
Proc guzzles an entire mug of beer, burps loudly and decides to explain.
"The Method that we are describing in The Elements is very potent. The thing is that once you find something you can stand on it and reach further and nothing ever goes bad. In the end everything is connected to everything else."
"Yeah, you told me" that says Euc irritated.
"But what I did not tell you is that this is tied to a very special type of growth," says Proc gently.
"Huh?" is all that comes out of Euc.
"Imagine that you are a croc in a pond and you eat fish," Proc makes one of her stunning changes of topic. "Each day you eat twice as many fish as you ate so far and after seven days you eat them all."
"Say again?" says Euc not understanding any of it.
"When will you eat half of them?" asks Proc ignoring his protests.
Euc sips beer and shows clearly that he hates to be examined like this. "Just tell me," he says.
"Six days," Proc decides not torture him.
"Why six?" Euc is suddenly curious.
"Well," says Proc, "once you ate half, the next day you eat the rest. On the seventh day it is."
"Aha," says Euc as if he really got it, "unless they multiplied meanwhile."
"Good point," Proc praises him, "let's suppose they didn't."
"What kind of fish are they?" Euc is trying to escape, but to no avail.
"Well," Proc continues, "with math it is all the same, if there is an end to it, then half of it will be done on the last day."
"So, what is the point?" says Euc distractedly staring at Proc's breasts.
"You will get some if you focus," Proc gently pats his crotch, "what would you do if you wanted the fish to last an extra day?"
"So I am a croc now?" Euc asks and starts to loosen up his clothing.
"Yes you are," Proc gives him a flirtatious look, "but first answer me."
"I would eat only half of the fish each day, and keep the rest in a separate pond."
"Exactly, and if math had an expiration date it would be good to have the Last Day Math held in reserve, as a bargaining chip."
"Bargaining with whom?" Euc asks incredulously.
"How am I supposed to know?" answers Proc and removes her toga signaling that work is temporarily suspended.
"But you have to be quick," she says, "we have a lot of work to do."
"I am always quick," answers Euc running to the bedroom.
"Indeed you are," mutters Proc without particular enthusiasm.
Missing nuggets
It is early afternoon and Program Commanders hang out in their favorite place.
"Is it true that all nuggets are gone?" Ie starts the conversation.
Uce jumps in, "I deal with abstracts for the grant awards. It is a horror story - inconsistencies in capitalization, dangling modifiers, misplacement of relative clauses - you name it."
"But what about the content?" probes Ie.
"What content?" Uce gets agitated, "there is no content, it is all incomprehensible new-speak or generalities that fit everything."
"Could it be that Sas is right and the community is hiding good stuff from us?" Nna wonders aloud.
"Sas is an idiot," Mek does not mince words, "but he has a horse sense for being conned."
"So, do you think that math has stalled?" asks Dy.
Programs Commanders start pondering and finally Ris says what has been nagging them for a while, "physics has Higgs boson, astronomy has dark energy and matter, chemistry has nano-tubes and graphene. Maybe, just maybe, we are staying a tad behind."
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